The watch you’d never sell (and why)?

[FrontierGibberish]

Was thinking about things in the watch box I would never sell and there’s probably only two. One is a cheap G-Shock I wore in various places in a different life and is worth nothing but is full of sentimental value, the other is my Seiko Marine Master 300 (SBDX017).
Seiko is my “thing”, and this was a watch I’d always wanted. Superb performance, wonderful subtlety (like the 8L-35 inside - hand-built and tested in the Shizukuishi Watch Studio, usually known as Morioka, alongside the Grand Seiko movements it’s based on), possibly the greatest lume there is, and pre Prospex branding aside from the top of the crown. Lots else. You guys know.
So when I found myself in Japan for work in 2017 I made what, for me, was something of a pilgrimage to Ginza, where you can still find the Seiko store that was the first the brand’s founder, Kintaro Hattori, ever opened. It has a beautiful clock still set high up, telling the district the time.
I sat opposite drinking tea at a cafe, just looking and taking it all in. I wanted to savour it. Then I went in and I was there two hours, looking for while and then sat talking to a wonderful Japanese from the staff about Seiko and its history. His English was limited but we understood one another pretty well. And so I bought my watch, and my enthusiasm and what this meant to me was clearly obvious to the guy I was dealing with, and indeed all the staff there. It was handed over formally, with a bow, after being stunningly wrapped and packaged. And as I left the staff, including the technicians from the workshop in their blue 3/4 length coats, came out and lined up, smiling, and bowing. It was an incredible experience.
I don’t wear it that often, but if everything else went, if I was a one watch bloke, this would remain. I look at it and it makes me smile.
How about you?


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[notenoughwrists]

Wow, great experience!

Funny, as I was just reading up on some of the efforts that go into making the GS movements not 5 mins ago!

I have an old cushion-cased Seiko 5 from 1969/70 that my father bought new somewhere along the Gaza strip. He wore it daily, for all tasks at all times.
I inherited it when I was about 14, after coveting it for years. It has the most stunning sunburst dial in a sort of Rhodium Grey, that I cannot capture on camera but I have never seen bettered.

I wear it rarely, as it desperately needs a service and the bracelet has lived a life - but it is the one watch, Pulp Fiction-style, that I would risk going back to get.
Certainly it could not be sold.

All the rest are trinkets and I let them come and go.








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[JPE]

I won't ever sell the 16610 steel Submariner.

Watch that has become such a clichë. Some watch lovers just love to call it the most mundane, most unadventurous and most unimaginative watch choice.

You almost have to feel apologetic to say that. But hey... after 15 Rolexes (and 4 still in the collection, 16600, 16710 and 16570) it's still the one that I like the most and wear the most.

[adigra]

Great story.

I have the same watch bought the same year in Tokyo, which I also wouldn't sell as it was my 40th birthday.

They have since also opened a Grand Seiko boutique a few blocks away which has a little museum in it.

[kinyik]

Probably this one here. I’ve had it a good few years now and it’s seen me through thick and thin. It’s the piece I put on when I know it’s going to be a tough day at work or if I was going on a trip because somehow it has become the most dependable piece in the collection. It was also a gift from my mother before I left the country to pursue a career and hence something I will treasure for the rest of my life.


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[blackal]

My GMT-Master - the last of the 1675 s bought new in a Seafarer's tax-free store in 1980 for the grand sum of £208.

Influenced heavily by the adverts in the likes of National Geographic and a realisation that it was a classic design. Lambasted by my colleagues for spending that much on a watch (I think I earned under £5k at the time).

Looks small compared to the Submariners of its day and since, but I feel it is part of my career - and can't see me ever selling it.

It's on a service bracelet and has service hands and bezel insert now, I think - but that doesn't detract to me.

[raydin]

2 for me. My dw6600 and my marathon gsar.

I've had the dw6600 for nearly 20 years. It was the watch for me many years before I got to own one. My uncle picked it up for me from the states and when I received it was over the moon. It was the best thing ever! Gshocks in general had a profound effect on me as a child.

The GSAR is a watch I bought with me best mate. We both have ours. And it represents that special brotherly bond. It was the first watch for us that we bought thought. Wow. That looks cool.

For those reasons those 2 will never leave me.

[Toshi]

For me it would have to be my Favre Leuba Deep Blue. There's no really sentimental story behind it, though. There are plenty of other watches I wear more frequently, and it's not my most valuable watch, but in the 15 years it's been in my posession it's always been my favourite watch. It actually makes me smile every time I put it on.

[JPE]

Looks small compared to the Submariners of its day and since, but I feel it is part of my career - and can't see me ever selling it.

What do you mean? That has 40mm diameter and 1680/16800 has the same.

My 16710 doesn't feel any smaller than my 16610.

Do the vintage version of GMT wear smaller? Interesting.

[blackal]

What do you mean? That has 40mm diameter and 1680/16800 has the same.

My 16710 doesn't feel any smaller than my 16610.

Do the vintage version of GMT wear smaller? Interesting.

I might have the reference incorrect, but it is a smaller frame watch than the Submariner, and a smaller crown. You're talking about a different watch.

[JPE]

I might have the reference incorrect, but it is a smaller frame watch than the Submariner, and a smaller crown. You're talking about a different watch.

I saw the picture and I'm very familiar with both 1675 and 16750 and I almost bought one in 2008 (the fact that I didn't annoys me even today).

But it's been quite a while since I tried it on the wrist. I don't recall it feeling smaller on the wrist than the 16710 (which I already owned back then).

But now that you mentioned it... it might be 39mm. It'd be very interesting to know if it wears smaller as I've been considering to buy one now (despite the stupid prices).

Cheers.

[banie01]

My one "never sell" watch is nothing special tbh. It's a mass produced ana-digi that may well mean nothing to anyone else, but that to me?
Is near priceless.

It's a Citizen Pro-master jp3040-55w. It was gifted to me from my wife in June 2004 as my 1st ever father's Day gift.
It was a watch that a lot of thought went into on her part.
I was diving quite a bit back then and had a similar albeit steel, watch stolen a couple of years earlier.

Anyway my wife went and spoke to friends, got some recommendations and bought me the titanium Promaster.
It was given to me as from her and our son, so it has huge emotional and sentimental value to me.
We lost her suddenly in 2007 and that watch and the happiness it evokes for me always brighten a dark day when I'm struggling.
It was away recently for a crystal replacement and I missed it something awful 😉

I have other more expensive watches in my box, but none are more valuable to me.

[monogroover]

Two obvious ones. This one, which I've had since 1998:




.. and this one, which I acquired from a jeweller's in Newcastle in July 1986:



Why? Apart from the considerable sentimental value, I just love them for what they are.

[matt74]

Not exactly a forum favourite but my Bremont MB2. Saw it in a magazine but price was in another ballpark for me at the time. Googling for info led me here and to Sinn watches which covered the tool/pilot watch vibe at a more affordable price. Then one came up in SC and that was that. The origin watch for me I guess. Worn it at various life events and firmly a keeper as a result.

[Highroller1]

I don’t think id ever sell my Tudor Black Bay 79220N as it was the shortest run in the current modern line up of less than 6 months or so that had the smiley face, rose on the dial and crown and the ETA movement. Certainly not the most technically advanced watch but there’s something about it, including its relative rarity that means its a keeper.
The other is my late Fathers watch that was given to him by my Mother on his 40th birthday and inscribed on the back. Worth absolutely nothing in terms of monetary value but totally irreplaceable to me.

[FrontierGibberish]

Wow, great experience!

Funny, as I was just reading up on some of the efforts that go into making the GS movements not 5 mins ago!

I have an old cushion-cased Seiko 5 from 1969/70 that my father bought new somewhere along the Gaza strip. He wore it daily, for all tasks at all times.
I inherited it when I was about 14, after coveting it for years. It has the most stunning sunburst dial in a sort of Rhodium Grey, that I cannot capture on camera but I have never seen bettered.

I wear it rarely, as it desperately needs a service and the bracelet has lived a life - but it is the one watch, Pulp Fiction-style, that I would risk going back to get.
Certainly it could not be sold.

All the rest are trinkets and I let them come and go.

That's a lovely thing and can quite see why it'd be the keeper.








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[FrontierGibberish]

My one "never sell" watch is nothing special tbh. It's a mass produced ana-digi that may well mean nothing to anyone else, but that to me?
Is near priceless.

It's a Citizen Pro-master jp3040-55w. It was gifted to me from my wife in June 2004 as my 1st ever father's Day gift.
It was a watch that a lot of thought went into on her part.
I was diving quite a bit back then and had a similar albeit steel, watch stolen a couple of years earlier.

Anyway my wife went and spoke to friends, got some recommendations and bought me the titanium Promaster.
It was given to me as from her and our son, so it has huge emotional and sentimental value to me.
We lost her suddenly in 2007 and that watch and the happiness it evokes for me always brighten a dark day when I'm struggling.
It was away recently for a crystal replacement and I missed it something awful 

I have other more expensive watches in my box, but none are more valuable to me.

That's the best of reasons. Can't think of any way a watch could mean more.

[FrontierGibberish]

Great story.

I have the same watch bought the same year in Tokyo, which I also wouldn't sell as it was my 40th birthday.

They have since also opened a Grand Seiko boutique a few blocks away which has a little museum in it.

Small world! Maybe we passed on a Ginza street....

[Mick P]

I cannot see myself ever selling a Rolex, buying them makes sense, selling doesn't.

[wileeeeeey]

SPB079 for me. Present from my wife and won't ever sell it.

[ozzyb123]

I cannot see myself ever selling a Rolex, buying them makes sense, selling doesn't.

Is it P for Parody?


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[Mick P]

Is it P for Parody?


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No, it's just common sense.

[Chris_in_the_UK]

I cannot see myself ever selling a Rolex, buying them makes sense, selling doesn't.

Pictures or you do not actually own any?

[DMC102]

I've liked watches since I was a kid, and remember getting my first one - a boy's Smiths, I think - and how wowed I was to have it.

Later on, for most of my twenties I lived in Hong Kong - a watch paradise back then in the 1990s. One day, I walked into a Jaeger le Coultre boutique in one of the malls and set eyes for the first time on a classic Reverso.

It was love at first sight, and truly ignited my interest in 'proper' watches, but for some reason I never bought one. The Reverso itch never went away though, and earlier this year I finally scratched it and added one to my collection.

As it happens, I've been wearing it for the last few days - here it is tonight:



Although I acquired this only recently, it evokes so many memories of an amazing period in my life, and the start of my 'proper' watch journey. I also think it's über cool.

I can't imagine ever parting with it.

[FrontierGibberish]

I've liked watches since I was a kid, and remember getting my first one - a boy's Smiths, I think - and how wowed I was to have it.

Later on, for most of my twenties I lived in Hong Kong - a watch paradise back then in the 1990s. One day, I walked into a Jaeger le Coultre boutique in one of the malls and set eyes for the first time on a classic Reverso.

It was love at first sight, and truly ignited my interest in 'proper' watches, but for some reason I never bought one. The Reverso itch never went away though, and earlier this year I finally scratched it and added one to my collection.

As it happens, I've been wearing it for the last few days - here it is tonight:



Although I acquired this only recently, it evokes so many memories of an amazing period in my life, and the start of my 'proper' watch journey. I also think it's über cool.

I can't imagine ever parting with it.

What a gorgeous thing!


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